Sports Jaunt #1

May 12, 2012

We are barely into the month of May, and Josh Hamilton already has belted 18 home runs. He currently leads in all of the triple crown categories. As a fan of the Texas Rangers, the early part of the 2012 season has unfolded marvelously. Perhaps the Rangers will make it 3 consecutive World Series trips – and finally win one.

Josh Beckett of the Boston Red Sox must be driving BoSox fans mad. The pitcher endured an off-season of questions about his commitment to the team. In the midst of the season he has raised the volume of those questions. This past week he missed a start due to a lat muscle. The muscle kept him from punching his time clock at work, but didn’t prevent him from hitting the links for some golf. Beckett dismissed the fans’ criticisms with the appeal that he only gets 18 off days during a season. He makes almost half a million dollars per start and starts about every 5 days. He also gets more than a quarter of the year with nothing more to do than stay in shape.

Competitive juices or in need of anger management? Bryce Harper and Amare Stoudemire both injured themselves and hurt their teams by trying to KO inanimate objects.

The Texas Rangers are celebrating 40 years of existence this year by letting fans vote for the 40th Anniversary Team. Here are my selections:

Starting Pitcher – Nolan Ryan

Relief Pitcher – John Wetteland

Catcher – Ivan Rodriguez

First Base – Mike Hargrove

Second Base – Michael Young

Third Base – Buddy Bell

Short Stop – Toby Harrah

Outfield – Jeff Burroughs, Ruben Sierra, Josh Hamilton

Designated Hitter – Juan Gonzalez

In the days of my youth, my home state of Oklahoma was without any professional major league teams (I’m not counting the short durations of the USFL and NASL). Naturally most of my family connected with the teams in the Dallas area. So it was the Cowboys, Rangers and Mavericks. A few years ago the NBA took residence in Oklahoma City. I have stuck with the Mavericks primarily because of Dirk Nowitzski. Dirk is from Wurzburg, Germany, and I served in the Kitzingen-Wurzburg Baptist Church. I find my allegiance shifting to the OKC Thunder as Dirk nears the end of his career. I’m straddling the fence for now, but will become a full Thunder fan once Dirk is gone.

Since I live near Miami, I have made the Marlins and Dolphins my number 2 teams in their leagues. I still can’t find it within me to pull for the Heat.

How about some soccer? I love watching the World Cup and the European matches. In fact, I’ll watch soccer any day over the NBA. My favorite team in this sport is Bayern Munchen.

As a guy who played quarterback in football, I follow the play of the guys under center. The top 3 QB’s in the NFL draft this year were Andrew Luck, RG3 and Ryan Tannehill. However, I predict that Brandon Weeden for the Cleveland Browns will have the best rookie year of any quarterback.

Justin Tucker has signed as a kicker/punter with the Baltimore Ravens. Tucker is the son of a former classmate, so I hope he does well.

I love me some me. Terrell Owens uttered these words as it was becoming painfully obvious that he was lacking in the teammate department. He could have said these words for his recent appearance on the Dr. Phil show when he was confronted for his less than stellar performance as a father. Not sure many people had their popcorn ready for that episode.

Albert Pujols is dead last in batting average compared to anybody who has batted for the Los Angeles Angels this year. Did anybody see this coming?